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Return to Years in Irish History |
|
 Brian Faulkner, NI Minister for Development |
January: A massive anti-Apartheid demonstration took place as Ireland played South Africa in the Rugby Union. Sinn Féin split into Official and Provisional wings. |
| February: Northern
Ireland Prime Minister Chichester-Clark and Brian Faulkner, Minister
for Development, met with the British Home Secretary James Callaghan to
discuss economic matters. |
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| March: In
Northern Ireland, the Police (Northern Ireland) Act became law. It
provided for the disarmament of the RUC and the creation of an RUC
reserve force. It also established the Police Authority of Northern
Ireland which was meant to contain representatives from across the
community, but failed to attract representatives from the main
nationalist parties. April: Garda Richard Fallon was killed in Dublin, the first garda to be killed in the Republic as a result of the conflict in the North of Ireland. In Northern Ireland, Ian Paisley won a by-election, and the Alliance Party was founded. The B-Specials were officially disbanded. Taoiseach Jack Lynch presented the budget in the absence of Finance Minister Charles Haughey who had been injured that morning in a riding accident. |
 Member of the RUC |
 Charles Haughey, Minister for Finance |
May:
Micheál Ó Móráin, Minister for Justice,
resigned on health grounds. The Taoiseach said that his condition was
'not unassociated with the shock he suffered as a result of the killing
of Garda Fallon'. On May 6th the Arms Crisis occurred. The Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, asked his Minister for Finance Charles Haughey and the Minister for for Neil Blaney to resign over allegations that they had attempted to import arms for use by the Provisional IRA. Minister for Local Government Kevin Boland resigned in sympathy with them. On May 27th, Captain James Kelly, Albert Luykx and John Kelly were arrested, accused of conspiracy to import arms. The following day, Haughey, Blaney, Luykx and Kelly appeared in court to be charged with the arms offences. In Northern Ireland, the Macrory Report was published. It recommended abolishing the old structure of local government and replacing it with district councils. |
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June: Kevin Boland was expelled from Fianna Fáil.
Bishops meeting at Maynooth discussed lifting the ban on Catholics attending Trinity College, Dublin. Five people, including two young girls, were killed in Derry when a bomb being made by the girls' father, an IRA activist, exploded prematurely. The girls were the first females to die in the current conflict. Serious sectarian rioting and gun battles occurred in Belfast. July: Neil Blaney was cleared of all arms charges. On the 3rd of July the Falls Road curfew took place. The British army searched houses for members of the IRA. On the 23rd July, the Stormont government announced a ban on parades until January 1971. |
 British soldiers during the Falls Road curfew |
 SDLP Conference including John Hume and Gerry Fitt |
August: The Galway-Aran air service was launched. In Northern Ireland, the Social Democratic and Labour Party was formed under the leadership of Gerry Fitt. On the 10th of August, the British Home Secretary Reginald Maulding had threatened to bring Northern Ireland under direct rule if reforms were not carried out. Rubber baton rounds were introduced in Northern Ireland. September: The New University of Ulster was presented with a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth II. On the 14th, the Economic Council for Northern Ireland held its first meeting. |
| October: US President
Richard Nixon visited Ireland, to be greeted by Taoiseach Jack Lynch.
Anti-Vietnam War protests took place in Dublin. Mrs Nixon visited her
ancestral home in County Mayo. In Northern Ireland, the SDLP proposed a system of proportional representation. The Electoral Reform Society backed up this proposal. On October 23rd, Charles Haughey, James Kelly, Albert Luykx and John Kelly were acquitted in the Arms Conspiracy Trial. The Taoiseach said there would be no fundamental change in Fianna Fáil's policy towards Northern Ireland. On the 30th of October, serious rioting took place in the Ardoyne area of Belfast which was to continue for three nights. Prime Minister Chichester-Clark met with the British Home Secretary Reginald Maudling to discuss the situation. |
 Richard Nixon visits Ireland |
 Ryan's Daughter film poster |
November: Ryan's Daughter, filmed largely in Ireland, was released. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive was formed to try to end discrimination in housing. The IRA carried out its first killing of people allegedly involved in anti-social behaviour. December: Aer Lingus took delivery of its first Boeing 747. The Northern Ireland government accepted the Macrory Report on local government reform. |
| Notable births in Ireland |
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 Rónán Ó Snodaigh January 1st |
 Edward Olive January 4th |
 Ciarán Carey January 16th |
 Sharon Corr March 24th |
 Glen Hansard April 21st |
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 Serena Armstrong-Jones May 1st |
 Mick Fitzgerald May 10th |
 Glenn Quinn May 27th |
 Mary Kingston May 29th |
 Stephen Geoghegan June 3rd |
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 Tony O'Dowd July 6th |
 Siobhán Hoey July 17th |
 Jeff Kenna August 27th |
 Tommy Tiernan November 3rd |
 Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh November 12th |
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 Brian Kehoe December 3rd |
 Craig Doyle December 17th |
 John Moore |
 Aidan McArdle |
 Samantha Power |
|
 Ruth Turner |
 David Wheatley |
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| Notable Deaths in Ireland |
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| Name | Date of death | Age | Details | |||
| Cyril Fagan | 5th January | 73 | Astrologer | |||
| Peter J. Ward | 6th January | 78 | Member of the First Dáil | |||
| David P. Tyndall | 6th January | 79 | Businessman | |||
| Gerard Sweetman | 28th January | 61 | Fine Gael TD and Cabinet Minister | |||
| Cahir Healy | 8th February | 92 | Nationalist Party MP | |||
| Patrick Lenihan | 11th March | 67 | Fianna Fáil TD | |||
| Arthur Shields | 27th April | 74 | Actor | |||
| Bobby Kirk | 11th July | 60 | Ice hockey player | |||
| Joseph Blowick | 12th August | 67 | TD and Cabinet Minister | |||
| Tommy Henderson | 14th August | (93) | Ulster independent Unionist politician | |||
| Leo Rowsome | 20th September | 67 | Teacher, player and maker of uilleann pipes | |||
| James Ryan | 25th September | 78 | Fianna Fáil TD, Member of 1st Dáil and Cabinet Minister | |||
| Mark Killilea, Snr | 29th September | (74) | Fianna Fáil TD and Senator | |||
| Liam Ó Buachalla | 15th October | (71) | Fianna Fáil Senator | |||
| Tom Farquharson | - | (70) | Soccer player | |||
| Máirtín Ó Cadhain | - | (63) | Irish language writer | |||
| Enid Starkie | - | (73) | Literary critic and biographer | |||
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